The aptitude of wines for ageing is traditionally assumed according to vintages, colors, the grape varieties used and wine production methods. Some wines are tasted too early or too late and, very often, the user does not consume them when at their best.
Generally, the ageing of a wine follows its fermentation, which is mainly a process of reduction of the wine. Then, the wine is stored in an antioxidant packing or atmosphere in order to avoid too brutal an oxidation—which is the worst thing for any professional wine producer—and to provide the condition for slow oxidation that will allow the wine to reach its apogee. The main antioxidant elements used are based on sulfur, as sulfites or sulfides, allowing the wine to benefit from the effects of a slow oxidation, ageing in a cellar at constant temperature.
In general, wine is made to age in a cellar for many years in order to ensure slow oxidation-reduction thereof and to allow the emission of aromas and finally ensuring the wine is tasted at its apogee.
This long and necessary ageing period constitutes a drawback for both professionals and consumers. All of them will have to wait many years before making sure that the wine can be tasted under the best conditions.
Moreover, this long period of ageing is an additional obstacle hampering the diffusion of oenological knowledge which, as should be noted, is a science reserved to a few initiates and is not very accessible to the average consumer who can only rely on general indications given in specialist guides or magazines.
Generally, it would be desirable—for professionals as well as for consumers—not to have to wait many years before being able to taste one's wine or realizing that a wine was unsuitable for ageing into a cellar.
It would also be desirable to have a tool that is specific to the science of oenology, making it possible to constitute a standard for wine assessment and aptitude for ageing.
With the present invention, we intend to largely democratize access to the world of oenology and, more generally, to offer everyone—both wine professionals and the general public—a particularly effective tool for judging the quality of this age-old beverage.